The History of Howeia

The most popular palm in the world has an interesting
history. In this first of two parts, Ian Hutton explores its origins
and the early days of 'the palm business'. by Ian Hutton, P.O. Box 6367, Coffs Harbour Plaza,
N.S.W. 2450, Australia Chamaerops No. 13, published online 23-08-2002

Above: Job for Life: Potting up Lord Ho we Island
Kentia seedlings in a Dutch hothouse.
Below: Wall to Wall Palms: Young Kentia palms fill this large greenhouse.

The temperature around me must have been close to
l00°F (3O°C), there was not a breath of wind, and beads
of sweat were rolling down my face, the occasional drop splashing
off the end of my nose onto an open clipboard file. I was 12,000
miles from my Australian home carrying out research into Kentia
palms. However, this was not the steamy tropics, but the city of
Gent in Belgium on a hot summer's afternoon. I was in the attic
office at the de Clercq family nursery, one of the earliest Belgian
nurseries to import Kentia palms to the Old World. I had been invited
to visit Europe to research the Kentia palm industry by Henk van
Staalduinen of Holland, the largest European importer of Kentia
palm seedlings today.

The home of the Kentia palm is a tiny speck of land
in the Pacific Ocean halfway between Australia and New Zealand -
named Lord Howe Island in 1788, the year of its discovery. Just
7 miles long by one mile wide (13km X 2km), it is often described
as the most beautiful island in the world. In the Island's largely
untouched forests, grow four indigenous palms, one of which is the
world-renowned Kentia palm. Its correct botanical name is actually
Howea forsteriana, but Kentia was its original name when the first
palm exports left the Island in the 1870s and 80s. The earlier anachronistic
name has remained with it to the present day, at least in the nursery
trade.

Henk van Staalduuinen has been involved in the Kentia
industry for over 10 years, and he visits Lord Howe Island every
year, often with his family or a group of Dutch nurserymen. The
island is now like a second home to him, and it is through his genuine
interest in the Kentia palm that I have been invited to Europe to
research the palm industry there. When enough material has been
gathered, I plan to write a book to tell the story of this unique
palm. And what a fascinating history it has. Between 1870 and 1940,
the entire economic and social fabric of Lord Howe Island revolved
around this one species of palm. There are tales of fortune and
intrigue, government enquiries (including two Royal Commissions)
and an amazing export success story that saw the Kentia palm travel
to every country in the western world.